A new initiative launched during World Water Week will establish global standards for water stewardship, with the goal of addressing the global threat of water stress. The Global Water Roundtable will provide a powerful new tool to improve the way water is managed by establishing rigorous, realistic water stewardship standards. For more information, see the press release.

A new WWF report reveals more than 350 new species – such as a “flying frog” and a 100 million-year old gecko – that have been discovered in the Eastern Himalayas, a biological treasure trove now threatened by climate change.

In a column in the Washington Post on Sunday (8/2/09), Kathleen Parker argues that the Waxman-Markey climate change bill currently before Congress would undermine our national security by making us more reliant on Middle East oil, a provocative claim for which she provides no support. The bill would place a limit on dirty, carbon-based fuels, including foreign oil, making home-grown, non-polluting, renewable energy sources more economically attractive. Free market forces would eventually reduce demand for all fossil fuels, including oil – both for

Dr. Andrew Baker is an Assistant Professor at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science of the University of Miami. His research and teaching focuses on the effects of climate change on coral reef ecosystems. Over the past dozen years, his studies, involving field and experimental work in some two dozen countries worldwide, have helped illustrate the adaptive capacity of corals to the impacts of climate change, such as rising sea temperatures, and how scientists might be able translate these findings into conservation tools.

The G8 Climate Scorecard, released by World Wildlife Fund and global financial services company Allianz SE, comes one week before heads of state gather in Italy for the 2009 G8 summit. In the 2009 ranking, the U.S. resides in seventh place, just ahead of Canada and behind Russia. “During debate on the energy and climate bill in the House of Representatives last Friday, opponents of the legislation demanded that other countries first step up to the plate,” said WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts.

To call attention to the imminent dangers of the Imja Lake Outburst to their way of life, the Sherpa communities in Nepal’s Khumbu region organized a “Beat the GLOF” action run. The dramatic increase in the size of the Himalayan Mountains’ glacial lakes is a direct consequence of climate change, which is melting Himalayan glaciers into lakes at an unprecedented pace. This has created the threat of potentially deadly GLOFs – Glacial Lake Outburst Floods – to the people living in the Himalayas.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on 19 June 2009 released an analysis (also available as PDF file)concluding that the cap-and-trade program currently being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives would by 2020 cost an average of $175 per household annually. Representing 0.2 percent of the average households’ after-tax income, the estimate falls far below the inflated estimates made by opponents of H.R.

Every region of the United States – from the East Coast to the West Coast, plus Alaska and Hawaii – is experiencing significant, adverse impacts from climate change including droughts, floods, heat waves and wildfires – and these widespread impacts will grow during the course of the century, concludes a major new report issued today by the White House. For more information, see the press release.

From 1 - 12 June 2009, the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) met in Bonn, Germany. The session is one of a series being held this year to negotiate the next major international treaty under the UNFCCC.